Keeping your sanity

I have pretty much exhausted my wealth of knowledge regarding bed rest. I will leave you with just a few tip for maintaining your sanity.

Develop a routine. During my first stint on bed rest I developed a fairly rigid schedule. My hubby and son would leave the house around 9am. At that point I would look into the cooler that my husband had kindly filled for me and select a mid-morning snack. I would NEVER EVER look at what he had packed for lunch. As pathetic as it may sound I didn't want to ruin the surprise. It gave me something to look forward to. I would also save reading my favorite blogs until the afternoon. Again, a little something to anticipate. Don't do all the fun stuff in the morning - it's going to be a long day.

Don't sleep. I know that you're in bed and you may be a little tired, what with growing a whole new human being inside of your body and all, but try to resist the urge to sleep all day. An hour long nap in the morning is one thing, but a full on snooze fest is just going to mess up your internal clock. Sleeping all day will result in not sleeping at night and there is nothing worse than sitting in bed next to your snoring husband.

Don't be afraid to have guests. If your girlfriends had planned to throw you a baby shower don't let bed rest derail your party plans. Suggest that they may want to relocate the shower to your house. You may even be able to get them to do a little vacuuming.

Don't be afraid to use your caller ID. The corollary to the above statement is that if you DON'T want to deal with someone just don't. Not everyone is conducive to your mental health. Some people and just plain annoying. Obviously, you're going to need to take calls from your doctor and your husband - regardless of how annoying they are, but everyone else is up to you.


Top 5 Reasons why Bed Rest Doesn't Totally Suck

5. Time to bone up on priceless parenting advice from Super Nanny, John and Kate, Kelly Ripa and Dr. Phil.

4. May be the last time you read a book with a human as the main character in the next 5 years.

3. No need to buy expensive maternity cloths since you can just lounge around in your sweat pants and husband's t-shirts.

2. Elevated feet reduces unsightly ankle swelling.

1. Gives your husband valuable practice in packing lunches. A skill he should be encouraged to utilize in 5 years when junior starts school.